Chapter 5
He looked at Ichigo and smiled as wide as he could.
"That's great! Welcome to the family, Ichigo." The smile slipped off his face as the boy seemed to withdraw into himself. The boy's posture was slumped, head hanging down, his hands clasped together and visibly trembling. Completely different from what he looked like before with his back straight, head held high and the epitome of strength. Now all he saw was a broken boy, terrified. Of what he did not know. He didn't know what to say.
His grandmother apparently did.
"Ichigo, I want you to meet my grandchildren." She gracefully got up from her spot at the table. Her meal mostly finished while the boy's was not touched except for the lone chopstick in the miso soup. Why was it in there? Ignoring that question, he watched as his grandmother grabbed the boy by the arm and gently pulled him up from his chair. He was easily twice the height of his grandmother. Ichigo was very tall for someone so young. "Let's go." She urged, guiding him gently. He caught sight of the sword that hung at his waist. It was entirely black and curiously had a metal chain that was attached to the hilt of the sword. It was longer than the standard blade and had no sheath. It was a beautiful blade and very different from anything that he had seen before. That blade must have saved Ichigo many times.
That was another thing. How did he acquire such a blade? He had examined it briefly before his escapade five days ago. From what he could tell it was almost like a zanpaktou, but the boy did not have any reiatsu. He assumed it was just a regular sword. Looking at how he carried it, he knew he was a master swordsman at least. Someone taught him, but who?
He followed the grimly silent boy and his grandmother as she steered him through the household. Her grip not tight and controlling, but just enough to guide the blind teen and give him his freedom. Ichigo followed obediently anyways and did not withdraw from her grasp. Just accepting how it was. He smiled wistfully at how his grandmother handled the situation like a true grandmother. She was treating him as a broken soul, but at the same time as a whole one too.
He shook his head. He would never be able to do that. He would just treat Ichigo as if he was made of glass and walk on eggshells around him. He didn't know what to do. The boy had obviously suffered through many things, he just didn't know what. He knew that he had been through at least one war, maybe more, and that he was imprisoned and tortured for who knows how long. That he was blind and most likely to never be able to see again. His heart lurched in his chest painfully.
Why did any Shiba have to suffer like this?
Gazing at the back of the boy, he noticed that Ichigo seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders and it was crushing him. In that instant, his heart made a decision before his brain caught up. He was going to support this boy and take away some of that invisible burden from him.
His grandmother had brought them to the back of the household. Sitting on the back walkway was Ran with Kameko resting in her arms. He wished his wife was here now to see her beautiful baby girl. Grandmother had settled the boy down beside Ran and eased herself down on the other side of him.
Ichigo's unresponsiveness concerned him. It seemed to concern Ran too, because she held Kameko tighter to her chest. He knew they all would be nervous around him. They didn't know if he was dangerous or not. Especially if he was carrying a sword. His daughter woke and immediately latched her eyes onto Ichigo. She giggled and babbled while reaching her arms out to the male. When he didn't acknowledge her, she began to grow fussy and started to cry. He blinked in surprise. Kameko disliked strangers very much. She was very picky who she let around her, and apparently Ichigo was one she allowed. Ran was as surprised as he was, she was looking between Kameko and Ichigo in surprise. Grandmother sat there with a sly smile on her face as if she knew this would happen. That sly fox. She knew something about this boy that he didn't, and it's not like she will tell him either.
His son came running from the back garden. Masashi running close behind him. His silver eyes taking every detail. Shin stopped in front of Ran and attempted to calm his little sister. It only made her crying worse as he edged her away from Ichigo. Kameko bawled and reached out toward him. This time Ichigo responded by following the sound of the child with his sightless eyes. Ran, Shin and Masashi all caught sight of his eyes and reeled in horror and surprise. He wasn't surprised. They probably didn't expect him to be blind.
Grandmother sat there and observed everything that the boy did. Turning to Shin, she ordered for him to give Kameko to their guest. Shin noticed him and silently asked if that was alright. He gave a nod to his son. Reluctantly doing as he was told, he placed Kameko within Ichigo's arms.
The orange haired male shifted and corrected the way he was holding her. Kameko noticing that she was in the arms of the boy, laughed and tugged on a strand of long orange hair that hung over the boy's shoulder. He moved closer to watch the boy. His grandmother was right to introduce him to his kids. Ichigo had a small sad smile on his face as he gazed down at his little girl in his arms.
"Well aren't you a little spoiled princess?" The girl only laughed and gave a harder tug on his hair after he spoke. Happy that Ichigo was giving her attention.
"Her name is Kameko." His grandmother introduced him to the little girl. Ichigo looked at his grandmother then back at the little girl. His smile gone, but the gentleness and nostalgia in his voice remained.
"Kameko, huh?" He then looked up and as best as he could to the two boys that were standing silently on the lawn. "And who might both of you be? My name is Ichigo." His son stuttered, trying to form a coherent sentence. Shin apparently was not expecting to talk to their guest. He might have also have been surprised by how polite he was. Masashi decided to butt in and save his friend further embarrassment.
"My name is Kuchiki Masashi. This is my stuttering friend, Shiba Shin." His son gave a cry of protest.
"Masashi that was mean of you." Masashi humphed and crossed his arms over his chest and looked exasperated. Well his son did tend to wear on people's patience and temper. They began to bicker and tease each other. Just like good friends. He smiled wistfully as they reminded him of his long time friend.
" A Kuchikiā¦" Ichigo spoke so quietly that the squabbling friends didn't notice, but grandmother, Ran and he did. Staring intently, he tried to unravel the mysteries that cloaked Ichigo. Did he know someone from the Kuchiki clan? The boy turned back to sightlessly gazing at his daughter, almost as if he was trying to see her. He turned to Ran.
"Ran would you please be so kind as to alert the staff that there will be a new member of the family saying with us?" She blinked in surprise, looked at the male that was concentrating solely on the babble of his daughter, then got up and gave a bow to him.
"Of course sir, right away."
"Thank you Ran. Could you also please have one of the maids set up a room for Ichigo that is near my own?" She nodded her head and scurried off to do her duties. He replaced Ran's spot on the back walkway on Ichigo's left side.
"Dad what do mean we have a new family member staying with us? Is he staying with us" He looked to his son, whom was still standing by his now silent friend.
"Shin, Ichigo will be living with us. Grandmother has stated that he is a Shiba." His son let that information roll around in his head, before coming to a revelation.
"Okay. I get it." Shin walked up to Ichigo. "Nice to meet you Ichigo. I hope we get along." His son then seemed to notice the blade at the male's side. His eyes practically shined in excitement. This can't be good. "Can you teach me how to wield a blade and get strong? My dad won't teach me and I want to get strong so I can defeat hollows." His son went too far. How could he ask such a thing from Ichigo, when he knew badly he was hurt? He blinked as he realized that Shin didn't know how hurt Ichigo really was.
"Shin." He went to reprimand him only for Ichigo the interrupt.
"No." Shin's excitement pulled up short. Everyone snapped their head over at the sharp reply that came from the orange hair male.
"Why not?" Shin demanded. His anger starting to get the better of him.
"What is the true purpose of a sword? Do you truly know what it means to wield a blade? If you cannot grasp these basic concepts then you have no right to learn how to wield a blade." Ichigo was harsh and firm. Shin didn't know what to say. What he had said completely changed his perspective on this boy and what he knew. He thought of his own blade. What did he wield it for? He looked at the orange haired male. What did Ichigo wield that blade for?
Ichigo shifted Kameko so his right hand was free. He slowly moved his bandaged hand until it gently touched his daughter's tummy. Kameko squealed in delight and wriggled happily. He smiled at how happy Ichigo made her. She was playing with his fingers and Ichigo silently went along with it. Shin was looking at Ichigo in envy. He grinned at the apparent jealousy his son had at how easy it was for Ichigo's to earn Kameko's attention. Toshi chirped almost contently, flapped his wings then took off, heading towards Masashi. The Kuchiki looked surprised that the bird flew to him, but he held his hand out for the bird to land on nonetheless. He greeted the bird softly, looked at the orange haired male, seemed to make a decision and proceeded towards Ichigo.
He watched as Ichigo played with Shin's little sister. He was so gentle with the 9 month old girl. He noticed that the male had bandages that covered him from head to toe. His clothing covered most of it but whatever wasn't was a stark contrast against his tanned skin. He could see the strength Ichigo tried to hide, but there was so much that it was glaringly obvious. The yukata did little in hiding the rippling muscle on his lithe frame. The black blade attached to his hip did little to disprove that power.
His father would very much like to meet this young man. He was truly an enigma.
Toshi gave a chirp and flew to him. Startled by the appearance of Toshi, he reflexively held his hand out for the bird to land on. He knew why Toshi stayed with Ichigo. His own mother was blind and needed help around the estate. He knew that was one of the main reasons, but he knew Toshi well enough that he only hung around people that were kind hearted. His first impression of Ichigo when he head butted him earlier was that he was a ruffian. That seemed not the case with this male.
Remembering that Ichigo was now going to be a part of the Shiba clan, he decided that this would be a good opportunity to get to know him better and allow his father to meet the male.
Walking forward, he stopped a few steps away from Ichigo when he noticed that his hand twitched toward his blade. He realized that he was nervous. Ichigo did not know him, so of course he would be suspicious of him. He would be suspicious of all of them.
"Ichigo-san, on behalf of my family, I would like to invite you to the clan gathering that is happening within a few months. I would be delighted to have you attend. As would my father." He turned to the clan head sitting beside the male. "Only if the clan head permit it so." Akihiko Shiba seemed to contemplate on what he had said. Ichigo remained silent as he waited for his decision to be made for him. The clan head frowned at the lack of response of the male. He obviously wanted him to make his own decision. And what he said next proved that.
"Ichigo this is your choice. I won't make a decision for you. If you wish to go then I will allow it. I will be at the gathering with Shin, grandmother and a few others that live in the household." The orange haired male seemed to have an internal debate, because his neutral face turned into a scowl and remained that way. His cloudy eyes were surprisingly filled with determination, and yet looked so pained as if he knew all the darkest secrets of the world.
He wanted to know what this man went through before he came here to the Shiba estate in his now current condition. He was determined to know this never ending mystery around Ichigo.
"I will go." Those words made his spirit leap for joy.
"That just means that I will have to babysit him." Shin snapped from behind him. He was obviously irritated that Ichigo was not going to teach him sword skills. Shin was only nine and so was he. Their parents didn't want them to even touch a blade until they were at least twelve. They had told them so.
"Shin." His father warned him. He stayed rooted in the spot, not wanting to get caught in an infamous Shiba fight. One that involved both physical and verbal fighting.
"Dad you can't trust him even if he is a Shiba. Besides, if he goes, how is he supposed to move around at the gathering?"
"He can stay with me as I go around and greet people." Shin's father reasoned.
"But he is an outsider. He can't be with you because you are probably going to discuss clan secrets." Shin shot back. He did have a good point. Clan gathering were parties that allowed clans to discuss the going ons between clans. Only a select few were privy to that information. If Ichigo is new, then he does not have the authority to be there unless the clan head wishes so. But he will be closely watched by the other clans to see if he is an threat to any of them later in the future.
Shin's father seemed to concede to that point, but the look in his eyes was one that meant that this argument was not over.
"That maybe so now, but in a few months that could change. He will come if he wishes to." Shin turned and ran away to pout somewhere. Conflicted on either he should try to talk to his friend, the clan head addressed him.
"Masashi, thank you for inviting Ichigo to the gathering." He shook his head.
"It will be my pleasure to have him come. I'm sure of it." Akihiko Shiba gave him a warm smile. Then the clan head stood up from his position on the walkway.
"Well I need to get back to my paper work. It is not going to get done by itself. Being a clan head and having paperwork I can understand. Why are captains subjected to doing all of this paperwork too?" Ichigo then looked up at Akihiko with a guarded expression.
"You are a captain?" Akihiko Shiba looked genuinely intrigued that Ichigo had taken an interest in anything that he had said.
"Yes. I am the tenth captain of the Gotei 13 and the seventh head of the Shiba clan." Ichigo seemed to take this information and store it away for later.
"I see. It must be a tough job." Akihiko gave a unseen tired smile.
"It is but I wouldn't trade it for anything else or wish it upon another person." This time it was Ichigo that gave a small tired smile while looking at Kameko.
"I know all to well what you mean."
Thanks to all of those who read this. A shoutout to Aquawrym, amazinglion29, PureHollow and joe63129.
Aquawrym: Yes. Ichigo will be pretty capable of taking care of himself. He will get his sight back. We thank you for reading and we hope to continue to interest you.
amazinglion29: We had a hard time figuring out how to have Ichigo react to them. We are glad that you thought it was good. Thank you very much for your thoughts and encouragement. We hope you enjoy this chapter also.
PureHollow: Surprisingly our chapters are slowly getting longer. So expect for longer chapter farther into the story. Ichigo will meet Yamamoto in a surprising way. So be ready for anything. We thank you for reading and reviewing our work. Thank you very much.
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